


ICARUS

by marvelousmsmol



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alternate Universe, Dead Sabine Cheng, Emilie Agreste Lives, F/M, Identity Reveal, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Reverse Crush (Miraculous Ladybug), Tom Dupain is Hawkmoth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26585728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelousmsmol/pseuds/marvelousmsmol
Summary: with the wings of icarus you gave me not towards the sun, but towards you, let me flyLadybug and Chat Noir have been fighting Hawkmoth together for a year. Marinette and Adrien have only just met. While Adrien enjoys the freedom that both his parents allow him, Marinette is isolated by a father stuck in grief at the loss of his wife, but as superheroes, they are able to meet on common ground, even if they don't know it.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 16
Kudos: 74





	1. your how to guide of building wax wings

She was new. It was undeniable that Adrien would have recognized her if he had met her before, not because she was pretty- which she was- but there was just something about her that felt so familiar. The nagging feeling sat at the back of his mind, annoying him with the sense that there was something he  _ should _ know, but didn’t. What made matters worse was she was sitting directly behind him, her with her dark hair and blue eyes that made the tingling feeling in the back of his mind upgrade from a mild inconvenience to an overpowering itch that needed to be scratched. 

Adrien had hadn’t even spoken to her, hadn’t even made eye contact, and yet she had taken over his thoughts so tremendously no amount of slapping himself in the face was bringing him out of whatever weird daze he had fallen in. He resisted the urge to turn around in his seat and look at her, which was like resisting a magnetic pull. Every few seconds he would start to look behind him and then have to pull his gaze and wavering attention back to the front of the classroom and to whatever Miss Bustier was saying for the morning announcements. 

“-so don’t forget to turn those in, alright?” Miss Bustier smiled and headed over towards her computer. 

_ I missed all of it?!  _ Adrien groaned internally as he let his head fall and hit the desk. 

“While I’m getting this set up, why doesn’t our new student introduce herself,” Miss Bustier said. 

Adrien heard a soft gasp from behind him, and, clearly, that was enough of an invitation for him to whip his head around to look at her. Everyone else in the class had done the exact same thing, but she was looking back at him. Most likely, it was because Adrien was sitting directly in front of her, but… mutual recognition was the only way he could describe it.

The girl cleared her throat and stood up, the sound of her chair scraping across the floor sounded more like an explosion in the midst of the awkward silence in the room. 

“Hello,” She said, sounding more than a little shy and nervous. Adrien noticed her eyes flitted down to him before immediately looking away again, and feeling as though that was a sign that his staring was probably making her uncomfortable, if not the main cause of her nervousness, he turned back around in his chair to face the front of the classroom. “Hi… My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I was previously homeschooled…”

_ marinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinettedupainchengmarinet- _

The name ran over and over in his head, completely overtaking every other thought. Adrien might as well have forgotten how to breathe. Did he know how to breathe? He had to know how to breathe, otherwise what was this thing he was doing now and why hadn’t he passed out on the floor yet? 

“...Anyway thank you all for welcoming me into your class. I look forward to getting to know you,” Marinette said, finishing her sentence quickly and immediately dropping back down in her seat. 

Adrien turned around once more to see Marinette’s eyes trained on the desk. She looked up at him, causing Adrien to go still in surprise for a moment. He smiled at her to break the tension, which thankfully became genuine after a moment, but Marinette didn’t smile back. She seemed almost surprised. 

“Thank you, Marinette,” Miss Bustier said. “If you need any help with where we are in the readings, Alya will help you.”   
\-------------------------------------

Adrien stood out in front of the school with Nino, waiting for his mother to arrive and pick him up. There was always just enough time at the end of the day for the two of them to talk about whatever interesting things happened during the last class, or whether they thought the homework load for that evening was too stifling, which it almost always was. Today, however, Nino seemed inclined to talk about something different.

“So, what do you think of the new girl? Marinette,” Nino asked. Adrien sputtered, trying to come up with a response that didn’t make it seem like she wasan all encompassing and overpowering thought that ruled over all else in his mind. Nino didn’t seem to notice his hesitation to answer though as he kept talking. “I think she’s cute. Alya said at lunch she seemed really nice, too.”

“Seemed nice or is nice?” Adrien asked. He didn’t even know why he was asking the question. Marinette had to be nice. “Because you can look at Chloe without knowing her and thinks she seems nice, but then she opens her mouth…”

“Haha,” Nino said with a straight face. “Alya said that she was nice, but shy. Probably just adjusting. She said she’d try and invite her to our study group. Help her get to know some of us a little better.”

“I have no problem with that,” Adrien said. 

At the sound of laughter behind him, Adrien stilled, looking out of the corner of his eye 

towards the sound. 

“Thanks, I’ll have to ask my father if it’s okay,” Marinette said. 

“Cool,” Alya said, sounding excited. Adrien guessed she had probably just asked Marinette to join their study group. “Let me have your number so you can text me.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, the happiness in her voice fading. “I, uh, I can’t. My phone is meant for emergencies only…”

The stillness that followed made for an awkward few moments. Other students around 

they didn’t know, still chattering amongst one another, but between Alya and Marinette, and Adrien, who probably shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on their conversation, the entire world had gone quiet.

After the momentary eternity passed, Adrien could almost feel the brightness of Marinette’s smile seep back into her, covering up whatever greyness had just been exposed. She let out another small laugh. “I’ll let you know tomorrow morning, though.” 

Adrien turned his head, at the right moment apparently, and met Marinette’s eyes as she passed by him. It seemed to happen in slow motion, her walking past him with an expression that he couldn’t quite place. It was different than when they had looked at each other before. Now, it just felt like Marinette knew something he didn’t, and wasn’t inclined to share. Her calm contrasted his confusion, elevating her to a carefree attitude, and pushed him into the role of a shell-shocked mess. 

She passed him without a word, making her way down the rest of the steps just as Adrien saw his mother’s car pull up. Adrien must have been watching her head down the street for entirely too long, because his mother rolled down the window of the backseat and called out to him. Adrien shook his head and went down the steps to where the driver was holding the door open for him. 

“Nino,” Adrien’s mother asked, “Do you need a ride today?”

“No thanks, Mrs. Agreste,” Nino said. “I promised my parents I’d help them out at the shop today.” 

“Alright,” His mother said with a smile. The two boys waved to each other as Nino took off towards his parent’s flower shop and Adrien rolled up the window of the car as they pulled back onto the road. Adrien’s mother finished up typing a message before setting her phone down, giving Adrien her attention. “I can’t drop you off before the city council meeting, so are you okay with working on your homework in my office for a while?”

“That’s fine,” Adrien said. “I don’t mind.”

“Perfect,” She said. “I know there could probably be an easier way of getting you picked 

up from school every day, but your father and I are both working, and you know he doesn’t want you riding public transportation.”

“Because riding buses is for poor people,” Adrien said, trying to do the best impression of his father. 

His mother whacked him on the shoulder but still smiled, knowing he wasn’t entirely serious. Not entirely. “Because you have a very recognizable face and we don’t want you getting harassed.”   
Adrien slumped down in his seat and turned his head towards the window. Sitting in his mother’s office in the city hall might make for a boring afternoon, but at least he would get some of his homework done. 

\--------------------------

“This meeting should only last an hour,” Emilie said as she started to leave the room. “I promise.”

Adrien flopped down in his mother’s office chair as she closed the door. He’d done homework at this desk almost his whole life. Sometimes Chloe would join him, others he’d be stuck there alone without anyone else, left to make necklaces out of the paperclips. Adrien pulled his school bag up onto the desk and started to rummage through it. Plagg flew out from his hiding place, sitting himself down on a closed notebook. 

“You’re really going to start working without feeding me first,” Plagg asked, crossing his arms. “At this rate, I won’t get to eat until dinner.”

“I’m sorry, which one of us ate all the cheese I packed for lunch already,” Adrien said. “You should have saved some.”

“Well I didn’t know we’d get dragged here,” Plagg said. “It’s not my fault. Just go find me some at the lunch cart downstairs.”

“You know I’m supposed to be doing homework,” Adrien said.

“Who cares if you wander around a little bit?” Plagg waved his paw absentmindedly. “Either you get me cheese, or I’ll be complaining the entire time we’re here. Your choice.”

“Fine,” Adrien sighed, standing up from the desk. He opened his jacket for Plagg to fly back into the hidden pocket on the inside. 

Adrien opened the door and peeked out into the hallway, hoping that there was no one he knew around. He’d rather avoid awkward small talk with adults at the moment, or Chloe, if she had been forced to hang out at her dad’s office that afternoon as well. When he decided the coast was clear, he made his way to the stairwell instead of the elevator. Adrien exchanged a few pleasantries with the old man who worked the food cart and made his way to an enclave on the second floor, a place he had hidden in ever since he was a child. It was tucked away where no one could see him, but there was a window with a view of the city. He had spent hours people-watching there before. 

Plagg came back out of hiding and settled on the window sill, placated now that he had acquired his beloved cheese. Adrien sat in silence as the little beast finished his snack, and absentmindedly handed him some more as he kept his eyes trained on the window and what lay beyond. 

Adrien was lost. He knew that there had to be a train of thought to hop on that would make the events of the day more clear. There had to be something that would lead him to a conclusion and satisfy the lingering feeling of familiarity that still sat in the back of his mind. 

“Hey, Plagg,” Adrien asked. Plagg just hummed in response as he took another bite. “Is there any reason why I feel like I know Marinette?”

“You mean new girl?” Plagg asked. “I wouldn’t know. Why would you ask me?”

“Well because I just felt… strange when I saw her,” Adrien said. “Like I should know her, but I didn’t.”

“Maybe your Chat Noir senses are trying to tell you something,” Plagg said.

“What,” Adrien asked. “What Chat Noir senses?”

“You know, like a cat getting freaked out when he senses danger,” Plagg said. “The powers the ring gives you.”

“Danger,” Adrien repeated. “This doesn’t feel quite like danger…”

Adrien shook his head. Maybe Marinette could be a bad thing waiting to happen, but there was no terrible, life-ending danger here. 

There was danger like falling from the window ledge and onto the pavement below, but there was another kind of falling that Adrien was terrified of, and at the moment it seemed like he was getting ready to pitch himself over the edge whether he wanted to or not. 


	2. your how to guide on keeping a secret

“I’ll let you know tomorrow morning, though.” 

Marinette waved goodbye to Alya as she kept walking. Time was running short, and she needed to get home. Even being a minute late would mean facing the look of disappointment on her father’s face, especially since the rules like coming straight home after school were the reason she was allowed to attend Dupont in the first place. 

As she headed down the steps Marinette caught the flash of sun shining off of bright, blond hair. She had been staring at the back of his head all day, and well her thoughts pertaining to Adrien Agreste - she couldn’t _believe_ that was his name - had steadily declined from a panicked “oh holy crap, what do I do,” to a much less frantic internal monologue, she could still hardly believe that this morning she had finally come face to face with the person whose presence in her life had always been kept secret. 

Marinette passed by him, and, as if fate had demanded it, Adrien turned his head and met her eyes. 

_Hello, Chaton._

If Marinette had spent any moment more lingering on the thought that Chat Noir was standing there in front of her, Marinette would certainly never make it home. Never make it more than five steps away from him ever again, actually. She willed herself to look away without breaking her stride and walked off towards the bakery, determined to keep any and all thoughts of Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste locked away in her mind until she was safe in the privacy of her bedroom. 

The main reason why Marinette had been allowed to attend Collège Françoise Dupont as opposed to, thankfully, the boarding school she had been threatened with, was because it was only two blocks away from their home. Marinette would be perfectly safe walking the length of two blocks twice a day, even despite her father’s incessant worrying. The distance also meant it took her all of five minutes to make it to the storefront of _Sabine’s Patisserie._

The bell jingled as she opened the door, and Marinette wiped her shoes on the floor mat. 

“Hello, Theo,” Marinette called over to him. Her father had hired Theo along with a few other cashiers not long after her mother’s passing. They were about the only other people Marinette had interacted with in the past year. Well, besides her father and Chat. Theo seemed like a fairly outgoing person to Marinette, but she remembered well when he was interviewing for the position that her father had been particularly thorough in interviewing the new hires, and had probably permanently scarred each of them with how much he had grilled them.

“Hey, if it isn’t Mini Mari,” Theo said, turning around from where he was stacking a few pastries on one of the back shelves. “Where did you go today? Usually, if I see you coming from anyway it upstairs.”

“I had my first day of school,” Marinette said, a pleased look on her face.

“Really?” Theo asked, a little bit of sarcasm hidden in his tone. “You’re old enough to go to a big kid school now? What will I do if I can’t make fun of you for being an awkward homeschool kid?”

“I suppose you can make fun of me for my numerous other quirks.”

“Marinette.”

The deep voice cut through the light, fun atmosphere, sending the bakery back into a silent and uneasy gloom. Marinette looked behind Theo to see her father standing in the doorway between the front house and the kitchen. She stood up straighter and walked around the counter to greet him. “Hi, Papa.” 

“You’ll have to tell me about your day at school later,” Tom said, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “I’m running late for a meeting with the city council. Andre was supposed to be the representative for CCI at the meeting but is sick, so I have to fill in for him.”

Marinette did notice now that her father was in a business suit rather than his usual white t-shirt and apron. She simply nodded. 

“I don’t think I need to remind you not to answer the door while I’m gone,” Tom said. 

“Yes, Papa,” Marinette said. “I’ll be up in my room getting a headstart on homework, and if there’s an emergency-”

“You call me first and then you call the police,” Tom said. Marinette nodded again, and Tom patted her on the shoulder, letting out a deep sigh. Marinette watched him walk past her and out the door. 

Marinette gripped the strap of her bag tighter, closing her eyes for a moment before she started to go into the kitchen. “See you later, Theo.”

“Marinette,” Theo called back to her. Marinette turned on her heel and peeked back out of the door frame to see Theo holding out a napkin to her with a cinnamon bun on it. “Something to snack on while you do homework.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said with a smile as she took the food from him. 

The smile fell almost as soon as she disappeared for his view, disappeared to a place 

where no one else could see her. She made he way up the lonely staircase, shrouded in shadows. Since the death of her mother, the bakery had somehow managed to survive the dark grief that sapped all of the life out of their home. Marinette supposed that it had been her mother that had really been the source of light within their family, and now they were an incomplete, broken household, the space Sabine filled left empty and uncrossable by either Marinette or her father. 

The apartment above the bakery was quiet as always when Marinette entered. She flicked the lights on, but it didn’t do much to make the place seem bright. She passed by the kitchen and barely used living room, and made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. 

Tossing her school bag on the chaise lounge, Marinette carefully took off her purse and opened up the clasps. The little red blur that flew out filled her with higher spirits. Tikki flew around in a circle, stretching after being kept in her purse all day, and settled in front of Marinette. 

“Okay, I can see you want to get it off your chest, so freak out about it now,” Tikki said. 

Marinette couldn’t contain it anymore and was practically jumping out of her shoes. “ _OhmygodTikkithatwasChatNoir!_ ” Marinette let the initial outburst sit for a moment before spoke again. “How could I have that incredible luck?! I know Ladybug is supposed to be lucky, but literally the first place I go by myself in a year, and he’s there… Oh my God, I didn’t even talk to him. I just looked at him like an idiot. He probably thinks I’m super weird.”

“How can you be sure that was Chat Noir,” Tikki said. 

“Tikki,” Marinette said with a sigh, collapsing into her chair. “I know him. I think I’ve talked to him more than any other person, seen him more than any other person. I know Chat Noir.”

She looked up smiling at her Kwami, still feeling like she was stuck in a dream, but that soon faded as she noticed that Tikki was not at all happy like she was. “But… you’re not going to confirm or deny that I’m right, are you?”

“Marinette, you know that knowing each other’s secret identities is dangerous-”

“So, I won’t say anything,” Marinette said. “No one needs to know.”

“But, how can you be sure it is him?”

“I’m sure,” Marinette said. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

Marinette had never been quite sure what she would do if she ever met Chat Noir outside of the mask. Clearly, her reaction was to freak out internally and be a stone pillar on the outside. She couldn't help but wonder, though, whether or not he had recognized her as well. It took her all of five seconds to look at him and know the ridiculous boy who liked to crack jokes and make a pun with every breath. All of five seconds and she knew that the person sitting in front of her during class was the boy who made her smile and promised to be her partner no matter what. Now, the boy she spent most of her time with and the other parts thinking about was so close to her that she couldn't help but feel like the lucky she was apparently allowed as Ladybug was finally being put to good use. 

She smiled wistfully at the thought. While it was clear that Ladybug and Chat Noir were simply friends and partners, Marinette viewed this shining opportunity as a way to grew closer to someone she wanted to know not just by halves. Maybe now Chat Noir could see the side of her she desperately wanted him to know, rather than just the things that it was safe enough not to have to keep secret. She wanted him to be the person in life she was closest to, because the past year it felt as though she didn't really have anyone else. 

Marinette grabbed her bag off of the chaise and wheeled herself over to her desk. She broke off a piece of the cinnamon bun and handed it to Tikki. Pulling out a few of her books, she settled in to finish her homework quickly. “Besides, even if it’s dangerous to know his identity, I’m already used to hiding myself from him.” 

\---------------------

Marinette stood in front of the stove, peering into the pot on the stove, her eyes every so often glancing at the clock on the wall. She was still home alone, the bakery long since closed. At this point, Marinette was used to being by herself in the apartment late into the night. She had a cool enough head on her shoulders to deal with any problems on her own, and being Ladybug certainly helped ease her fears.

She tried to occupy her time by making dinner or cleaning the house, even though it was already spotless. Even though her father told her not to wait up for him to get home, she would still sit at her desk sewing late into the night until she heard the front door downstairs open, and then would rush into bed like that’s where she’d always been. 

Still, there was something about tonight that felt a little strange. Marinette was on edge, the hair on the back of her neck standing up straight. She knew that just because it was always quiet in the house didn’t mean that the world outside should share the same still silence. 

“Tikki,” Marinette said, “Let’s go check it out.”

“Are you sure,” Tikki asked. “What if your father comes home and notices you’re gone?”

“It’ll be just as risky as it was every other time we’ve snuck out,” Marinette said. She peered out the window to see if her father was outside, and when it looked like the coast was clear, Marinette made her way downstairs and went out the side entrance to the building. 

As Marinette made her way out onto the main street, she noticed that there were still people out and about, but there were no cars coming from either direction. She turned right, and the farther she walked that way, the more the noise grew. Car horns honking blared, a stark contrast to the silence of Marinette’s own street. The number of cars stopped on the road might have been normal for lunch hour traffic, but certainly not this late in the evening.

“Tikki, what do you think is going on,” Marinette asked the Kwami, who was hiding back inside her purse. 

“I don’t know,’ Tikki said. “But, you’re right. Everything feels strange.” 

Marinette continued walking down the line of cars that seemed to go on for miles. There was certainly nothing block the road up ahead, so why weren’t they moving? Cautiously, Marinette stepped up to the side of one of the cars and peered into the window. There was a fast-food bag, sitting up perfectly on the passenger’s side seat, but the contents were strewn about the cab of the car. 

_What? What’s going on?_ Marinette asked herself, leaning closer to get a better look. The person in the driver’s seat was completely asleep. 

Confused, Marinette looked out over the sea of vehicles, and, with the flashing lights of cars noticed that the majority of the drivers were asleep. One man was even leaning over the handles of his motorcycle, passed out. 

A loud crash sounded out, louder than any other the car horns that were being honked by the remaining conscious Parisians. Looking further down the line of cars, Marinette could see that someone had landed on top of one of the cars, denting the roof. 

“An akuma,” Marinette gasped. “Tikki, we have to transform!”


	3. your how to guide on unexpected encouters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to deinde-prandium for beta-reading this chapter for me!

Adrien had long since completed his homework and returned to the small enclave that offered him a little solace away from the rest of the building as it slowly emptied. The light outside of the city council chambers was still on, however, meaning that the meeting that was only supposed to have taken an hour was still going. In fact, it was running straight into hour number four. Even though he knew that it was almost always that case that an hour in adult time really did mean four, it really shouldn’t have been taking this long. It was even starting to get dark outside. 

What was even more suspicious was the fact that the building was eerily quiet, even for this time of day. 

“Plagg,” Adrien asked. The Kwami was napping on Adrien’s shoulder and didn’t stir as Adrien said their name. Adrien poked one of Plagg’s ears, asking again. “Plagg, do you feel like something weird is going on?”

Plagg yawned and floated up to Adrien’s face so they were eye to eye. “Geez, kid, are you just feeling anxious today or something? First new girl, and now you’re what? Sensing an akuma? I feel like we’d be hearing screams somewhere if there was an akuma.”

“I don’t think there’s an akuma,” Adrien said, getting up on his feet. “At least, there isn’t one yet.”

Adrien started walking down the corridor, trying to see if whatever he was sensing would at least be kind enough to point him in the right direction. 

“Hey, wait for me!” Plagg flew quickly to catch up with him, hiding between the crook of Adrien’s elbow and his side. 

Adrien could see the doors that lead into the city council chambers up ahead. He knew from years spent spying on the “grown up talks” with Chloe that the crack at the bottom of the door was large enough to allow you to see most of the room - if you were willing to lay down flat on your stomach. However, the door opened before he could reach it, and someone slipped out of the room. Adrien froze in place.

“You know they’ll still be able to see you, right?” Plagg whispered. Adrien shushed him, but it only managed to bring more attention to himself.

“Adrien, is that you?” the man asked as he walked further down the hallway. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you hanging around here. You were only eight years old.” 

“Uhh, hello,” Adrien said. He couldn’t quite place a name to the face, but he certainly did recognize the man. He towered over Adrien and had broad shoulders. The suit he wore seemed ill fitting, and his hair was unkempt. “I was just… waiting. For my mom.”

“Oh, of course, they’re finishing up in there. Shouldn't be too long,” he said. “I have to get going, though. My daughter’s probably at home getting dinner ready. It was good seeing you.”

With that, the man walked away without even really giving Adrien a chance to think about his name. He should know it, and it nagged in the back of his mind. Still, Adrien watched the man walk around the corner and disappear out of view. 

He leaned up against the wall, sighing. “Well, I guess we should just wait. Everything 

seems fine, so I’m not going to go barging in there.” 

“Whatever you say, kid,” Plagg said. “You’re the only one who’s acting jumpy.” 

Adrien rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He didn’t feel any more at ease. The only sound he could hear around him was the sound of his foot tapping against the ground. He felt like there should have been something else. Distant voices, footsteps, doors closing. It was just quiet. 

The bright flash of light appeared out of nowhere. Even with his eyes closed, it still filled his vision with white. Adrien pushed himself off the wall and watched as the light dissipated, vanishing beneath the crack between the floor and the door to council chambers. 

“Plagg?” Adrien asked, wondering what exactly he should do next.

“Oh, hey,” Plagg said, floating next to him. “Look at that, you may have actually been right.”   


Adrien shook his head and raced over to the door, opening it just a crack. He peered inside, and wasn’t at all surprised by what he saw. An akuma, dressed in the villain’s signature grey suit, was standing at the front of the room. The others present all collapsed in their seats, heads resting on their desks. 

“Mom,” Adrien whispered, fear filling him at the sight of his unconscious mother. 

He knew he had to act fast. Adrien raced back to the enclave, the safest place for him to transform without being seen. “There’s no time to lose, and none to waste waiting for Ladybug to show up.”

“Are you sure that’s really smart,” Plagg asked. “Don’t go in blind-”

“Plagg, claws out,” Adrien said, interrupting the Kwami’s sentence. 

He threw open the door as soon as he made it back to the room, but found it empty. 

“What?!” Panic and anger flared through him, almost making him wish he could summon his cataclysm right then and there. Destroying something random wouldn’t accomplish much, but it was better than taking his anger out on something or someone else. 

Adrien raced to the middle of the room, looking for any clue as to where everyone had disappeared to, and where the akuma had gone. “Damn it!”

**\-------------------------**

Marinette rushed into an alley, leaving the akuma that was advancing down the line of cars, jumping from roof to roof. 

“We need to transform,” Tikki said, flying out of her hiding place. 

“Right,” Marinette said. “Let’s just hope Chat Noir gets here. Tikki, spots on!”   


As the pink light engulfed her, taking away her civilian clothes and leaving her in something more battle-worthy, Marinette continued to picture Chat in her mind. But the mask that adorned his face kept flickering away, leaving Adrien Agreste. She found it hard to picture him that way, when Chat Noir had been all she had known before today. 

_ What if when he sees me he knows it’s Marinette _ ? 

Marinette flinched as the thought crossed her mind. This wasn’t something she had the time to unpack right at this moment, but the idea sent chills down her spine. The thought that she was known completely by another person, seen by someone who existed in the same way she did, she felt as though looking at him now was like staring at herself in a mirror. In this way, was Adrien Agreste more similar to her than even her own family?

Taking her yo-yo from her hip, Marinette flew up towards the rooftops. She could see the akuma now better from this vantage point, and it was more likely that he wouldn’t see her. It was strange that they didn’t seem to be doing anything more than moving along through a sea of cars. People that had been walking along the street when he appeared were either fleeing, or - if they were stupid - taking video with their phone, but the akuma seemed to be leaving them alone. 

“Maybe he’s already got what he wanted,” Marinette whispered to herself. 

Marinette watched as they jumped to a car in the middle of the road and ducked as their gaze scanned the rooftops.Papillon had never really had an eye for variety, and this was just another day of being stuck fighting an akumatized civilian in the same dull, grey suit. 

The akuma raised something in their hand towards the sky. It seemed to almost be an extension of their arm, blending in with the sleeve of their suit. Marinette couldn’t quite be sure, but it looked like a handheld mixer. 

When the akuma’s weapon fired into the air, a bright light spread throughout the street that almost blinded Marinette entirely. She shielded her face with her hands, waiting for the burst of light to dissipate, but more kept appearing. They were rising out of the cars -not all of them, but definitely from the ones where the people had been asleep. Marinette opened up the two halves of her yo-yo, and pulled up the camera. She zoomed the picture in closer to one of the cars the lights had appeared from, Marinette gasped at what she saw.

“They’re taking the people,” Marinette said in a harsh whisper. Still in her crouched position, Marinette maneuvered herself to scan the horizon around her, but saw no sign of her partner headed her way. “Chat Noir isn’t going to get here in time to be any help.” 

Marinette looked down at the akuma again, who didn’t seem to be going anywhere. She bit her lip, trying to decide if it was best to wait for her partner and try to track the akuma down together, or jump in and take of it herself. Chat would, of course, insist that she wait. Marinette could almost hear his voice in her head telling her to wait. 

And, Adrien flashed in her mind again.

“Focus, Marinette,” She said, smacking herself on the side of her head. Peering over the edge again, Marinette noticed that the akuma had started to move again, and sighed. “Well, it’s now or never.” 

Steeling herself, Marinette jumped down off of the rooftop and landed on one of the roofs of the cars below. She was already swinging her yo-yo, anticipating an attack. The akuma had stopped moving again as he noticed her. A familiar purple light appeared in front of the akuma’s face, illuminating their blank and lifeless expression. Papillon was talking to them now, no doubt telling them to take her Miraculous, the same routine they had been going through for a year now. Marinette knew well enough that they wouldn’t act unless she did so first, and so she did exactly that. Like poking a bear. 

“What have you done with the civilians?!” Marinette asked, yelling across the sound of car alarms going off and the frightened shouts of the people on the street. 

It was a moment before Papillon’s presence disappeared, and Marinette waited, anxious, for the akuma’s next move. Apparently, their next move was to aim their weapon and fire. 

Marinette skillfully jumped out of the way, landing on top of another car. She was ready to move again at any moment, and ready herself for a fight. “What, no small talk first?! Papillon deciding to take a different approach this time around?!”

Dodging another attack, Marinette began to find herself becoming slightly ticked off. With one last look towards the horizon, and no black cat in sight, Marinette decided it was time to start fighting like she meant it. The akumas never went easy on them, and she had just enough fury and fire within her to hit them back just as hard as they hit her. 

Chat Noir should count himself lucky that he wasn’t here. Marinette was seriously considering taking out some of that anger on him at this point. She was building up a list of grievances - being too much of a coward to talk to her at school, looking at her with that stupid, dumb, pretty boy face all day - most of all, the fact that he wasn’t there getting his ass kicked with her right now.    
\--------------------------

Chat Noir raced across the rooftops, trying to track the akuma down. He’d been kicking himself for letting it get away. He should have just transformed then and there; now his mother was missing, probably being held hostage by the akuma. It was still unclear exactly who the akuma was or what had happened for them to get akumatized. Everything had been quiet. There’d been no sounds of arguments or shouting voices. Just a flash of light and then akuma was there. 

His personal vendetta pushed him onwards, despite his labored breath and tired legs. Chat Noir would keep moving until it was over. People he’d known and loved had been in danger before or during an akuma attack, but never his mother. He didn’t know what he would do if she wasn’t around. 

Chat Noir stumbled and tried to stop his momentum as he skidded to a halt. The light was back again, sending a bright burst into the sky that wiped away every shadow. It wasn’t far, and if he kept moving he could probably make it before the akuma was on the move again. Chat growled as he pulled his staff from where it was secured on his back and began vaulting over the rooftops towards the light’s source. 

Landing on a rooftop overlooking the Arc de Triomphe, Chat had an easy enough time spotting the akuma below. The akuma stood above everyone else, the hood of the car he was standing on was dented. Lights were floating in the air all around, bags were left discarded, bicycles had fallen over - and a car or two had crashed into each other. 

“What happened to all the people,” Chat Noir whispered to himself. Sure, there were still a few souls roaming about, but they were few in number. 

All of a sudden, the lights flew off in the direction of the tower. Chat was about to jump up and race off after them, but the akuma turned in the opposite direction. He looked back and forth between the lights and the retreating akuma, confused on which would be better to follow. His brain was telling him that following the lights might lead to an answer about exactly what was going on, but yet again Ladybug’s voice was running on repeat in his mind, telling him that following the akuma was more important. If he could follow her thought process correctly -and he was sure that he could - he should follow the akuma, and be sure to find Ladybug there as well. 

“Right. Lights later, final puzzle piece,” Chat said and jumped down onto the street below. “Person akumatized who could put others in immediate danger, a very current and important problem.”   
\----------------

Ladybug groaned as she landed hard on the pavement. She had to roll immediately out of the way and crouch down behind a car to avoid getting hit by another blast. The akuma had been relentless in his attacks, and while that was the usual standard for these battles, she was stumbling a little without her partner by her side. They worked better together, no doubt, and she wished that he were next to her now. 

It didn’t help that Ladybug was distracted. Chat Noir not being there was, of course, a big problem, but she was beginning to be worried more about exactly _ why _ he hadn’t shown up. He had never before left her high and dry, but her coming to school and meeting - well, not exactly meeting since the dummy didn’t even say a word to her - Adrien Agreste and then Chat - Adrien  _ ahhhhh _ Agreste - suddenly deciding to take a vacation could not be a coincidence. 

“Where the hell is he?” Ladybug groaned. 

_ Beep. Beep. Beep. _

She flinched at the sound of her earrings giving her another warning. Ladybug was just two minutes away from becoming Marinette again. The lucky charm she had summoned was still in her hand, but she hadn't gotten any clue as to what she should use it for. There wasn’t anything in her immediate surroundings that made any sense at all. After all, what good was a soufflé dish, other than breaking it over the akuma’s head?

No. She needed to get out of there, find a cookie to give Tikki, and then transform again and find Chat Noir. 

As her earrings beeped again, Ladybug sighed in defeat. She swung her yo-yo and latched it onto something on a rooftop above, and again missed a shot fired at her by the skin of her teeth. It filled her with an anger that almost made her want to turn back and take the akuma down herself, but she worried she might lose her yo-yo in a flash of light and go free falling through the air. 

Not five seconds after she touched down on the rooftop did her transformation drop. Marinette caught Tikki in her hands as she reappeared, and made a beeline for the stairwell into the building. She leaned up against the door after it shut behind her, catching her breath.

“Marinette, you’re not hurt, are you?” Tikki asked. 

“No,” Marinette said. “But, I have a feeling if we were out there any longer I would be.” 

Marinette started walking down the stairs, gripping the railing as she went. Her legs were tired, and the sight of the ten flights of stairs she had to climb down without the aid of magic certainly wasn’t helping. 

“We need to find something for you to eat quickly. I’m sorry, it might not be something you like,” Marinette said with a sigh. Not paying attention, she almost tripped over one of the steps but managed to catch herself on the railing at the last second before she face planted. Marinette groaned in frustration. “I’m so stupid! What was I thinking just running out of the house like that? What if my dad comes home and I’m not there? He’s going to kill me!”

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Tikki said. “You didn’t know there would be an akuma. It’s not your fault.” 

“Still, Chat has shown up yet,” Marinette said, panic creeping into her voice. “Oh my god, Tikki, what if he did recognize me at school today and now he doesn’t want to be my partner anymore?”

“Marinette, I think you’re getting a little extreme with the ‘what-ifs’ there.”  
“You’re right,” Marinette said. Picking up the pace, she kept going down the stairs, trying to push all the creeping, world-shattering thoughts out of her head. “We need to keep going.”  
\-------------------------------

At this point, Chat Noir wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and take a cat nap, but unfortunately, the akuma wasn’t slowing down. No more of those lights had appeared, but the akuma didn’t seem interested in anyone or anything else. It was bothering him. Chat knew that Papillon’s akumas weren’t exactly sociable, but they were hostile, and attacked anything as long as they moved. 

He hoped he’d run into Ladybug soon. She always seemed to be able to make sense of everything, notice things that he didn’t.

Just up ahead, the trees lining the sidewalks were becoming too tall and the buildings too short, causing him to lose his vantage point. Chat jumped down onto the sidewalk to continue his pursuit. Luckily, the akuma seemed to be slowing down, and Chat was quickly gaining on him. He got his baton ready, knowing that as soon as he jumped into a fight he needed to be prepared to defend himself or risk multiple broken bones. 

“I’ve got you now,” Chat mumbled under his breath, eyes narrowing in determination. 

Just up ahead, a door swung open and someone came racing outside. Chat tried to stop, but the momentum he’d already built up sent him hurtling forward and into the oblivious pedestrian. As they collided, Chat twisted and wrapped his arms around them, taking the brunt of the fall as they hit the concrete. They rolled a few times before sprawling out on the sidewalk, and Chat became keenly aware that there was, in fact, a girl laying on top of him. 

The girl groaned and propped herself up on her hands. Even though her hair fell around her face, he could still see glimpses of her features. Chat’s eyes widened in surprise and recognition. It was Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had stepped into his path at the most inopportune moment.

As she seemed to center herself back in reality, Marinette’s eyes flitted around until they focused on Chat’s face. 

Marinette gasped. “ _ You _ .”


	4. your how to guide on saving damsels

Chat was stuck. It wasn’t just due to the fact that Marinette had tried to move off of him, but he felt as though there was something supergluing him to the concrete. Perhaps it was the power of her word that held him there, echoing over and over in his mind.

You.

“Me?” Chat asked. “How did you know me, Ma- Uhhh, sorry I ran into you. I didn’t see you coming out.”   


For whatever reason, it had taken as long as he had stopped speaking for Marinette to see to wake up in reality again. She shook her head and gasped, sucking in a breath so harshly that she started coughing. Marinette, quite literally, fell off him and landed hard on her bottom as she continued to try and regain a steady breathing pattern. 

Chat sat up, looking at her carefully. He needed to be present, needed to think through everything before he said. He had almost called her by name, something Chat Noir most certainly would not know, even if Adrien couldn’t forget it. 

He also needed to figure out what exactly to do with her. Marinette couldn’t be in the middle of an Akuma battle, and he couldn’t just leave her in danger to go find Ladybug. 

Chat pushed himself up to his feet. He stretched a hand out to Marinette who was stilly slightly gasping and clutching her chest. 

“Are you alright,” Chat asked. Marinette looked up at him, seeming slightly confused. He held out his hand further. “Come on, we shouldn’t stick around here.”   


“I’m sorry,” Marinette said, taking his hand as he helped pull her to her feet. “It’s my bad I shouldn’t have come barging out like that.” 

Chat still had a strong grip on Marinette’s hand as it seemed she was about to tip forward. He wondered if she actually had hit her head on the ground. “Are you sure you’re not hurt-”

Chat was barely able to finish the last few words of his sentence as a loud crash sounded from not too far off. A car alarm started beeping, and pulled Marinette by her hand behind him and close to his back. She yelped, her forehead hitting the back of his neck, and seemed to freeze. 

“Give us your Miraculous.” Two voices spoke simultaneously and Chat looked up to see two grey figures standing on top of the cars in front of them.

“Two akumas?!”   


“There’s two of them?!” 

Both he and Marinette shouted at the same time. He glanced back in her direction but knew the threat in front of him was the most important thing to focus on. Chat held is baton out in front of him, taking a defensive stance. As long as he kept Marinette behind, there’d be a chance he could keep her safe until he could get her out of there. 

“Don’t worry, little lady, everything is going to be fine,” Chat said. 

Marinette’s fingers that were splayed across his back clenched, digging into his suit slightly. “Li-Little lady?” 

Chat blocked two shots that were fired at him, but the third whizzed past his head and narrowly hit his ear. 

“Keep your head down,” Chat shouted to Marinette. Chat started backing as he continued to block their fire, putting himself between the Akumas, Marinette, and the door. “When I say so, I want you to head inside. I’ll be right behind you.”   


“But-” Marinette said. 

“Trust me,” Chat said. He knew she couldn’t see the pleading look on his face, but hoped she could hear everything conveyed through his tone. They were only a few feet away now, and Chat tensed as Marinette let out a cry of fear from behind him. He growled and took one last look at where the door was from them. “Go! Now!”  
The door flung open behind him and Chat angled his baton so one of the shots would ricochet and fire back at their attackers. Chat raced inside after Marinette, making it through the door a few seconds before it closed again. “Keep going up the stairs! To the roof!” 

“Okay,” Marinette shouted, but there was an angry groan coming from her as she started moving up the stairs. 

Chat followed her upwards and as they stepped out onto the rooftop he scooped Marinette up with one arm and propelled them off the rooftop using his baton with the other. All the while, not even breaking his stride.

“What are you doing!” Marinette shouted. 

“I’m saving you what does it look like,” Chat yelled back as he landed on another rooftop. From where she was at his side, Marinette seemed flustered and was shaking from head to toe. He supposed he probably could have given her a warning that he was about to jump off the roof with her, but he couldn’t be sure if he had lost the Akumas- two akumas! - yet. Chat finally stopped on another rooftop that had to be maybe three blocks away from where they just were, and ducked down behind a chimney. He tried to set Marinette down as gently as possible, leaning her up against the brick. 

“I’m sorry,” Chat said. “I should have given you a heads up.”

Marinette gulped as she lifted her head. Chat froze as her blue eyes met his, and the same strange, incomprehensible feeling returned from earlier that day at school. He couldn’t tell if his whole body felt hot from the running, or if it was the fact that she was looking at him in a way that made his complexion turn red. 

Marinette let out a breathy laugh, “No, no. It’s fine. You’re fine- I’m fine…” 

“Okay… good,” Chat said. “Just sit here and catch your breath for a minute. I’ll find a safer place to take you after that.” 

“Okay,” Marinette mumbled as she leaned her head back against the brick wall. She suddenly shot up again, eyes going wide. “But wait, why aren’t you going after them. You could have lost them! What were you thinking?!”

“I wasn’t going to try and chase them down while I was carrying you, too,” Chat said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marinette looked down at her lap. “Oh. Right.” 

“Don’t worry. Ladybug and I will take care of it,” Chat said. He frowned. Marinette seemed weirdly out of it, in some sort of haze. “Okay, come on. We need to find a safe place for you.” 

Chat pulled Marinette up to her feet by her arms. She didn’t protest as he maneuvered her arms around his neck. For some reason, he felt like she should be freaking out. Why wasn't’ she freaking out? She was just letting him help her along without a word of protest when anyone else might object to him moving them into such close quarters. 

“I at least need to get you down to the street and off this roof,” Chat said.

“That’s fine. That’s are far as you need to take me.”

Chat’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not just going to leave you without making sure you’re safe first.” 

“Well, clearly the akumas aren’t around here, or they would have attacked us by now,” Marinette reasoned. She pointed down across the street. “Just take me there.”

Chat looked at the cafe she was pointing at and raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“None of your business,” Marinette said quickly. “...I’m hungry. 

_ Weird _ . 

Chat shook his head and jumped down off the roof, using his baton as a pole to slide the rest of the way down. Marinette immediately unhooked her arms from around his neck. “Thanks for the lift.” 

“Wait,” Chat shouted at her, but Marinette was already running across the street and into the cafe, waving back at him. His hand was outstretched in her direction, but there was no possible way he could reach her. 

Chat was certainly becoming more and more curious about Marinette Dupain Cheng with each passing moment, but he didn’t have time to focus on that now. He needed to find where the Akumas had gotten to, and that meant heading back onto the rooftops. 


	5. 5. your how to guide on fighting beginner supervillains

Marinette kept her purse clutched close to her as she stood on the sidewalk, watching Chat Noir disappear once again over the rooftops. There were so many thoughts she wanted to take the time to process but now was obviously not the most opportune moment. She needed to catch back up to him, and in order to do that she needed to be Ladybug. In order to be, Ladybug…

“I need you to give me all the cookies you have,” Marinette said slamming down a stack of money on the counter. 

“Madamoiselle,” The cashier said, “Are you sure-”   


“Please,” Marinette repeated sliding the money further across the counter. “Give me all the cookies you have.” 

Marinette exited the cafe stuffing the cookies she had bought into her purse. It was the end of the day, and they didn’t have many left, but she was at least able to stock up a little, and, this way, she wouldn’t have to explain any missing things from the bakery for a while. 

“Eat quickly, Tikki,” Marinette said. “I don’t want to leave him on his own too long.” 

“Chat Noir will be fine, Marinette,” Tikki said. “Don’t worry too much.” 

“Of course, I’m going to worry,” Marinette said. “It’s different now.”   


Tikki peeked out of the purse, a confused look on her tiny face. “How is this different than before?”

“He has a name now.” 

Marinette called for her transformation as soon as Tikki was done eating from the back alley behind the cafe. Using her yo-yo, she pulled herself up onto the rooftops, turning in a full circle to look at the area around her. “How am I supposed to figure out where he’s gone to now?”

A loud crash and car alarms sounded from somewhere not too far off, and Marinette spun around in the direction of the sound. 

“Well, that wasn’t too hard then.” 

There was a large cloud of dust circling in the air close to the Eiffel Tower, where all those lights had flown off earlier. Marinette figured that they were getting close to seeing whatever these akumas end goal was. She began to move fast, not wanting to leave Chat Noir alone anymore. Her heart was racing as the fear that she might be a minute too late came to the forefront of her mind. Marinette did her best to push the thought away. All that mattered right now was running as fast as she could to get to him. 

When Ladybug landed on the ground on a street of overturned cars and unsettled dust, it was clear that the akumas had already moved on from there. It otherwise seemed to be empty, and she guessed that the people had been taken. Ladybug coughed as she tried to swat some of the dust away from her face and clear her vision. Somewhere in front of her, she heard a groan of pain. Ladybug gasped and raced forward aimlessly. Chat Noir came into her view, trying to push himself up off the ground where there was a noticeable crack in the pavement. 

“Oh my God!” Ladybug exclaimed. She knelt down next to him and helped him sit upon his knees, and began frantically inspecting him to see if there were any major injuries. “Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!” 

“Ladybug I-” Chat said, faltering as she ran her gloved hands through his hair to check for any blood, brushing past his cat ears. Chat let out an involuntary purr. After a moment he regained his senses and started trying to shake her off. “Ladybug- My lady!”

Chat grabbed onto Ladybug’s hands, pulling them away from his head. He was staring at her intensely, and Ladybug felt completely frozen in his grasp. Chat looked at her so differently than when she had seen him not five minutes before. Granted, then she had been Marinette, a person he most certainly had to pretend not to know in the slightest. 

Still, she liked this look. 

“I’m fine,” Chat said. “I’m not hurt, I promise. This cat’s got nine lives, remember?”   


Chat smiled but groaned in pain again, it was only then that Ladybug noticed the large bruise forming on his cheek. She sighed, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. Chat’s arms were hanging awkwardly at his side and he slowly raised them, pulling them tight around her waist. 

“Uh, my lady,” Chat said. “Not that I’m not loving this sudden- uh- physical affection, but we’ve got bad guys to stop.” 

“Right,” Ladybug said awkwardly, pulling back. She stood and reached out her hand, helping Chat Noir to his feet. “Let me do the heavy lifting, it seems like you’ve already got quite the beating.”

_ And a model shouldn’t be covered in horrible bruises,  _ She thought.

“No promises.” Chat shook his head. He walked to where his baton was lying discarded on the ground, picking it up and dusting off the dirt on it. “Shall we?”

Ladybug started swinging her yo-yo, looking in direction of the Eiffel Tower. “Let’s.” 

\-------------------------------

“All the lights are off except for here,” Ladybug said, pushing the door open. “I guess this is where they want us to be.”  
“The restaurant?” Chat asked. “Why- _Oh.”_

“What?” Ladybug turned to Chat. “What is it?”

“The Akuma came from City Hall,” Chat said, cautiously stepping farther into the room. “There was a meeting today between City Council and the Chamber of Commerce on protecting small, locally owned businesses from being closed down by the rising number of chain restaurants… If I remember correctly.”

“You really stay up to date on local news,” Ladybug said. “So, you think that the akumatized person is upset about whatever the outcome of that meeting was?”

“Probably. To be sure you would have to had been in the room where it happened.” 

Ladybug crossed her arms over her chest. “Please stop making  _ Hamilton  _ references while we're working.” 

“Why are you asking so many impossible things of me today?”

Ladybug shook her head and made her way into the middle of the room. She stopped in her tracks just as she was about to reach the center. The table in the middle of the room was empty, save for a card sitting on the tablecloth that read  _ “Reserved for Ladybug and Chat Noir.”  _ _   
_

“So, this is a trap.”   


“Oh, most definitely,” Chat said, nodding in agreement. He stepped in front of Ladybug, pushing her backward as he pulled out one of the chairs.

“What are you doing,” Ladybug hissed. 

“They haven’t attacked yet,” Chat said. “They’re waiting for one of us to take the bait.” 

Ladybug grabbed onto his arm as he was about to sit down, trying to pull him backward. “That doesn’t mean you should do it!” 

Chat wrenched his arm out of her grasp. “It should be me rather than you!”  
He stepped up to the empty seat, and Ladybug wanted to reach for him again, but all she could do was stand there and bite her lip nervously. He lowered himself down until he was sitting completely, and for a moment nothing happened, and Chat let out a sigh of relief. 

At the moment after that, a bright, white light encompassed the room, and Ladybug was absolutely blinded. She screamed, reaching out for him. “Chat!”   


“Cataclysm!” She heard him yell. 

When the light dissipated, Ladybug had to blink a few times to clear her vision. The room was completed illuminated, and now all the other tables were filled with people, presumably the ones that had been taken from all over Paris. Ladybug stared at the table in front of her. Chat was sitting there, his raised hand frozen in the air with his Cataclysm still charged. He was unmoving, and Ladybug almost reached out and touched him when the sound of a door opening behind her caused her to whip around, grabbing onto her yo-yo yo to prepare for an attack. 

The Akumas were standing there with their blank expressions, weapons raised. 

“I really don’t want to spend too long on this,” Ladybug said, swinging her yo-yo. 

She made her move first. They dodged, but so did Ladybug, the shots fired from their weapons narrowly missing her as she rolled across the floor and took refuge behind one of the tables. She peeked around the edge of the tablecloth and saw that one of them was approaching her from the left. If she had to guess, the other Akuma was stalking on the other side of the room. 

Ladybug let out a deep breath and then jumped, swinging her leg out to kick the Akuma on the left down while flinging her yo-you out in the opposite direction. The Akuma she kicked flew back into the wall, slumping down to the ground, while her yo-yo caught on the other, wrapping around them. She pulled the string taught, and, to her surprise, instead of trapping them, they disappeared in a cloud of dust. Her string fell to the ground, and with a flick of her wrist, Ladybug pulled the weapon back to her hand. She backed away to the other side of the room that was now empty.

“I doubt you’re going to be that easy to get rid of,” Ladybug said. 

The remaining Akuma raised their weapon at her, and she bounced back and forth on her feet, ready to jump to either side, but not telling them which way she was going to go. Ladybug moved nimbly on her feet to the right, jumping further around the room as the shots followed her. 

She needed to closer to them. Not only did she need to get the akumatized object from them, but Ladybug feared any of the civilians getting hit. Ladybug slid underneath one of the tables and waited till she heard footsteps approaching her. She kicked her legs up, pushing the table onto the Akuma and knocking him to the ground. Hopping easily back up to her feet, Ladybug rushed to grab onto the whisk-shaped gun they had been carrying this whole time. 

“I really hope this is it,” Ladybug said, chucking the weapon across the room like a baseball across the room towards Chat’s frozen, outstretched hand. It landed square in his palm, and soon as the object touched the black, bubbling substance, it dissolved, and a little black butterfly came fluttering out. 

Ladybug sighed in relief and tossed her yo-yo towards the creature. A white butterfly reappeared and went flying out one of the windows, going back to wherever it had come from. Wherever Hawkmoth was…

She couldn’t think about that right now, she had other problems to deal with. Ladybug took the souffle dish she had been carrying around. “Guess I didn’t need this after all.”

Tossing it in the air, and calling on the Miraculous Cure, Ladybug didn’t wait to watch its effects. She rushed over to where her partner was sitting, starting to move again. Chat was just starting to stand up as she reached him, and Ladybug grabbed onto his arm, pulling him out of the chair. 

“Woah!” Chat shouted, stumbling as Ladybug pulled him into another hug. “I’m guessing everything is okay? You fixed it?”

Ladybug pushed Chat away and smacked his arm, her expression turning angry. “Yes! I fixed it, and you’re very lucky that I did!”

“Sorry,” Chat said, rubbing the spot where she had just hit him. “I just know what are the better odds.” 

“My odds were pretty slim,” Ladybug said. 

“Better than mine.” 

Ladybug sighed. At least he was safe, everyone was safe, and starting to unfreeze now. 

Ladybug turned and looked out the window. The sky was completely dark now, and no doubt with the Akuma defeated, her father would be on his way home now. A dark pit formed in her stomach at the thought, and she knew that the countdown to her detransformation had already started. 

“Chat, I have to go,” She said. She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a smile. “Take care of things for me, will you? And make sure you leave before you detransform.”

“Don’t worry my lady,” Chat answered, grabbing onto her hand, squeezing it tight. “I’ve got things here.”

Ladybug slipped her hand out of his grasp. “See you soon, Chat.” 

Without another word Ladybug ran towards one of the windows, throwing her yo-yo and swinging away. 

_ See you tomorrow, Adrien.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the "i really don't want to spend too long on this" is just me having to write fight scenes.


	6. 6. your how to guide on learning new names

Chat had tried to get away from the scene of the Akuma battle as quickly as possible but ended up having to recharge anyway before he started to head home. Plagg had been slightly annoyed that he had rushed in while eating his cheese, but he needed to make it home before his parents. No doubt, his father had gone to pick up his mother. Chat sighed in relief when he had seen her among the people in the restaurant from afar, but couldn’t have gone up to her then. 

Now, he leaped across the rooftops. The city had calmed now, all the damage that had occurred was reversed by Ladybug’s magic. He passed the street that he had been beaten to a pulp in and even there, there were no longer cracks in the ground. 

As he looked down, Chat did catch a glimpse of one person running down the sidewalks at full speed. He frowned, trying to focus on the figure below and get a better look. Black hair glistening under the street lights, almost making it look blue, and-

“Wait is that…” Chat said aloud, trailing off as he tried to decide whether or not he was, in fact, correct. 

The girl turned, her face becoming visible to him, and with that being confirmation enough, Chat jumped down to street level just a few feet away from her.

“Hello,” He said, landing deftly on his own two feet. Marinette let out a loud screech and jump backward, almost falling flat on her butt. She clutched her chest, breathing heavily. Chat held out his hands in front of him, shaking them frantically in an attempt to calm her. “Woah, Woah. Hey. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Marinette took one last deep breath closing her eyes and counting to ten silently to herself. “Don’t you know better than to sneak up on people?”

“Sorry,” Chat repeated, offering an apologetic smile. “I should have announced my presence better.” 

“You think,” Marinette said. She was laughing now, wrinkles forming around her eyes. He must have been looking at in an odd way, because she stopped suddenly, mouth hanging open in confusion. Chat didn’t want to stop looking. He wanted to study her, figure out what was going on inside her head. There had to be some secret, something about her he didn’t know yet that would explain the force of her gravitational pull. Chat leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, propped up by his baton. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” He said, hoping that his voice sounded casual and nonchalant.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be,” Marinette said. “An Akuma to fight? Or something?”

“Nope, already taken care of. Paris is safe again. You’re welcome.” Chat narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? It’s a little late to still be out, isn’t it?”

“Uh, my ride disappeared,” Marinette said. “I’m supposed to be headed home, but...”

“Oh,” Chat exclaimed. He looked off in the direction of his house, bouncing anxiously back and forth on his feet. “I, uh… Do you want me to take you home?”

Marinette’s eyes widen, her cheeks turning red. “What?!”

“What,” Chat said. “Um, if you need to get home I can help you out. I’ve- I’ve got time.” 

Marinette was still frozen in front of him, clutching the strap of her purse in a white-knuckle grip. Chat thought that if he pushed her with even just the tip of his finger, she might fall over. After a moment, though, her expression softened a smile appeared on her face.

“That would be really helpful, thank you,” Marinette said, sighing with what seemed like relief. 

Chat offered a smile in return, and secured his baton to his back. “Here, put your arms around my neck,” He said, and grabbed onto her waist, pulling her closer to him. Marinette seemed startled at first, but relaxed, and Chat scooped her up into his arms. “I promise the ride will be a lot smoother than last time.” 

“I guess it’s easier to carry someone when you’re not having to worry about getting shot at,” Marinette joked. He could tell that she didn’t really think the joke was funny, and it was more a reaction to her nerves than anything else. 

Unsure of how to respond, how to make the encounter any easier for both of them, Chat didn’t wait a second longer before jumping back up onto the rooftops and taking off running. The lights were blurred as they rushed past them. Chat kept moving with a focused look on his face but heard laughter coming from somewhere. He glanced down, realizing that it was coming from Marinette, who, even though still held onto him with a tight grip, smiled and looked straight out in front of her at the world that they were passing by. 

Marinette noticed him staring, and looked up at Chat, trying to spit a piece of hair out of her mouth. “It’s a lot more enjoyable this way!” 

She let out another fit of laughter, and Chat couldn’t help but smile. He shook his head, trying to pull his focus away from her and to where he was heading. “Do you live close by?!” 

“That bakery down there!” 

Chat was almost surprised at where she was pointing, the bakery was only a block away from their school. Nevertheless, he continued on his way and was getting ready to land on the street below when Marinette jostled in his arms. “No, wait! Drop me off at the balcony!” She said.

Chat landed as she had directed him and set her down on her feet as steadily as possible. He glanced around the open space, taking note of the plants and the string lights. Marinette walked to the center of the balcony, smoothing out her clothes, and turned to. “Thank you for- Well, I guess for saving me today and bringing me home now.” 

“Just doing my job,” Chat said with a shrug. Marinette nodded and turned to leave. Chat realized he wasn’t quite ready for that yet. “Uh, wait- Uh...”

Marinette looked back at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“You… You should really be more careful, you know,” He said. “Try not to run into anymore Akumas, okay?”

“Okay,” Marinette chuckled and shook her head. 

“Well, uh-” Chat scratched the back of his head as he backed away towards the railing. “I’ll see you around, I guess-”

“Marinette,” She said. “My name is Marinette.” 

“Right,” Chat nodded, relief flooding him as now he didn’t have to focus trying not to accidentally saying her name. “See you around, Marinette.” 

“Marinette!”   


At the sound of the voice calling her name, Marinette stiffened, eyes snapping towards the trap door. She looked back at him, and the expression on her face told him everything he needed to know.  _ Go.  _

Chat lept as fast as he could upon to her roof and ducked behind the chimney just as the trap door began to squeak open.

“Marinette, where have you been I’ve been calling you for five minutes,” The man said as he climbed up out of the trap door. Chat recognized him almost immediately, it being hard to forget someone of his stature so easily. He still didn’t really have a name to place for him, but the man he had run into outside of the city council chambers earlier that day at least had something that Chat could now refer to him as: Marinette’s father.

“Sorry, papa,” Marinette said, her hands clasped behind her back. Chat couldn’t help but notice that her demeanor had changed from bright to almost guilty so easily. “I couldn’t hear you with the door closed.”

“You know I don’t like you being up here alone at night,” Her father said with a frown. “I know there’s already been one Akuma attack, but you never know what Hawkmoth might do. You should stay inside. It’s safer.”

“Yes, sorry,” Marinette said, bowing her head. She perked back up after a moment and smiled at him. “Let’s go in and have dinner.” 

“Alright,” He said, motioning for Marinette to go inside. She disappeared through the trap door, and her father went to follow her, but he paused. He glanced around the roof, and just as Chat saw he was about to look in his direction, he ducked behind the chimney completely. 

Chat took a deep breath, and headed off into the night, not wanting to risk another almost encounter. 

\------------------------

When he landed inside the walls of the Agreste mansion, Adrien finally called for his de-transformation. “Plagg, claws in.” 

“Well, it’s about time we finally got home,” Plagg complained as soon as he reappeared from the ring. “What, rescuing a damsel once wasn’t enough for you today?” 

“Quiet,” Adrien said in a harsh whisper, “We have to sneak inside.”

“I’m not sure sneaking is going to be much of an option,” Plagg said, pointing his tiny hand in the direction of the front steps of the house. 

Adrien’s mother was waiting out there, her arms folded as she looked at the front gate across the drive. 

“Crap,” Adrien whispered, and Plagg flew into Adrien’s jacket pocket as he ducked out of his hiding place in the garden bushes. 

There was no point in trying to be sneak, so he just walked up as casually as possible. Emilie saw him almost immediately and rushed down the rest of the steps meeting him halfway. “Adrien!” She exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug. “Oh my goodness, where have you been?! I tried calling people at city hall and they said you weren’t there anymore.” 

“I”m sorry,” Adrien said, frowning. “After the Akuma attacked there, I left. I tried to head back here, but there were so many people out on the streets-”

“You should have waited and left with the driver,” Emilie said. “You scared me!”

“I’m sorry-”

“You both should be,” Gabriel said from the doorway. He was standing at the top of the stairs with his hands folded behind his back. Emilie pulled away from her son, and Adrien stood straight as a board as his father approached them. “I was worried about both of you the whole time.”

“We’re sorry, dear,” Emilie said, pulling him close to the both of them. 

Gabriel sighed. “What would I do if I lost one of you? Both of you?”

“Well, we’re all here now.” Emilie fixed Gabriel’s ascot. “It’s late let's go in and have dinner.” 

“You go on ahead,” Gabriel said to his wife, nodding towards the door. “I want to have a word with my son.”

Emilie remained silent, but nodded, and headed towards the house. Gabriel’s face remained as stoic as ever, his eyes never leaving Adrien for a moment. 

“Let’s make something clear,” Gabriel said, and Adrien braced for a lecture. “Don’t ever make your mother worry like that again. Promise?”

Adrien calmed after a moment as it snuck in that that was the end of the scolding. “Yes, I promise.” 

“Then, let’s go in and enjoy dinner,” Gabriel said. “We don’t want to keep her waiting.” 

Adrien nodded and followed his father inside. As he walked up the steps, he glanced back in the direction of Marinette’s bakery. Right now, he would go inside and have dinner, focus on his homework, and probably have to deal with helping Plagg organize his cheese fridge, but tomorrow, there would be school. There would be seeing Marinette Dupain Cheng again, and since seeing her three times today, he was determined to know more about her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh... adrien i think you've seen her more than just three times today


End file.
